Autistic actor - only 11 - stars at Manchester Royal Exchange theatre

A young actor with autism who only started performing a year ago is now treading the boards at the Royal Exchange.

ENCORE: Omei is appearing at The Royal Exchange after theatre bosses spotted his talent

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A young actor with autism who only started performing a year ago is now treading the boards at the Royal Exchange.

Osei Samms-Alcott, 11, had never acted until he took part in a project about Alice in Wonderland at his school last year.

The youngster, who attends Inscape House School in Cheadle, impressed his teachers and project leaders from the Royal Exchange so much that they invited him to appear in the world premiere of Carol Ann Duffy’s Rats’ Tales.

Osei, from Manchester, is now performing in the show, which uses music, animation and puppetry to tell the stories from Carol Ann Duffy’s collection, The Stolen Childhood, combined with folk stories from around the world.

His dad Washington said: “Drama has been so beneficial to Osei. Not only is it good for him to take part in structured activity, but it also gives him the opportunity to meet new people.

“The team at Inscape House School have been really supportive in encouraging Osei to take part in projects like this.

“Osei’s confidence and communication skills have improved a lot and it’s great to see him be involved in something he really enjoys.”

Osei’s school, for children with autism spectrum conditions, signed up for the drama programme last year.

The Alice in Wonderland project was set up by the educational organisation CreativePartnerships, in collaboration with the Royal Exchange and was run by Liam McCormick, Royal Exchange education officer.

Liam also supports Songlines – a partnership project between the Royal Exchange Theatre and Manchester Camerata – which Osei has become involved in. The project gives young people with autism the chance to work with professionals to create their own musical theatre and Osei progressed so well that theatre bosses wanted to show off his talent on their stage, giving him a small role in Rats’ Tales.

Val Taylor from Inscape House School, said: “It’s been fantastic to see how Osei has developed and improved over the last year since he’s been involved with projects like this.

“The staff at Inscape are so proud of him for taking part in this production at the Royal Exchange Theatre – he’s a true star.”